Yuu Tokui
The anime industry of Japan is enormous, with 200 new TV shows and two trillion yen in revenue each year. For seven years, soft-spoken yet strong-willed Hitomi Saito has climbed the ranks, and is set to direct a series for the first time. At the same moment, the difficult but undeniably brilliant director Chiharu Oji is set to make his big comeback after almost a decade. The hit series that made Oji famous is what inspired Saito to jump into the anime field, and her goal is to match, and even surpass, his success and relevance. Her chance has arrived. Their two programs are both scheduled to debut in the same prime-time Saturday slot, and after Saito challenges her rival on stage at an anime convention, the two production teams each set out to outdo one another, because there can only be one number-one!
Saki, a high school girl who always skips classes, works part-time as a life adviser.
Newlyweds Nana (Tomoyo Harada) and Shota (Kei Tanaka) move into an apartment. Two situations, different from the drama series, take place: "What if Shota attends the resident's meeting and not Nana?" and "What if exchange murder game doesn't begin?"
Takako Kojima works as an announcer in Tokyo, Japan. She is tired of living in Tokyo and she doesn't see a bright future for herself. One day, she is assigned to cover a festival in Minamiosumi, Kagoshima Prefecture. Takako spent her childhood in the town of Minamiosumi and this will be her first time going there in many years. Takako reluctantly covers the festival, but she is changed by the people there.
The story is set 155 years ago, during the battles that ended the Shogun era and through the eyes of young Itosato, we gather an interesting glimpse into a world surrounded by the most arcane women, who for the times they were destined to live, were very similar to the women of today; displaying leadership and strength within the bounds of a society at large. Itosato is a "TENJIN,' who is a courtesan in training just beneath the rank of TAYOU, which carries an Aristocratic title of Supreme Entertainer in the old capital city of Kyoto. There are two more women who play a key role in this story and all three women are in love with men who are commanders within the infamous special police task force, Shinsengumi. A task force that was organized to protect Shogun government under the command of the Kyoto Military Commissioner.
Michitaro Sano’s wife passed away 18 years ago. Since her death, he has lived with his daughter Yumiko at their home. Now, Michitaro retires from his work. Yumiko though tells him to start doing housework. Michitaro is also surprised to learn that Yumiko has a boyfriend and is considering marriage. Michitaro is unsure how to handle his sudden abundance of free time. He then attends a local radio calisthenics group session.
The body of Kou Fujisaki, who fell to her death, is discovered in front of an old building in West Shinjuku. Chief Sakamoto notifies Ushio, who arrives at the scene. Ushio thinks that this must be a murder, but according to Yamaji, who was at the scene before him, an eyewitness testified that Kou had jumped off the roof of the building, killing herself. Kou is someone who has lingered in Ushio's memory - as a suspect...
A world wide electrical outage occurs. Everything that requires electricity comes to a stop. Tokyo is nearly ruined. Yoshiyuki Suzuki (Fumiyo Kohinata) decides to escape from Tokyo with his family.
The body of Kazuyoshi Kawagishi, a construction company worker, is discovered stabbed to death in Shinjuku Central Park in Tokyo. Detective Masanao Ushio of Shinjuku West PD begins an investigation and finds that the murdered Kawagishi was an honest person who didn't have any troubles. Kawagishi worked for a company in Kofu City in Yamanashi, leaving behind his wife and daughter on Awaji Island in Hyogo. He seems to have started working as a laborer 3 years ago, having fallen on hard times when the company went bankrupt. Saeko Kawamura, Ushio's reporter friend, calls him wanting to talk about the case. According to Saeko, Kawagishi was one of the survivors of the "bus hijack arson case" that happened three years ago. In the bus hijack arson case, a man who was hallucinating under the influence of dangerous drugs set fire to an intercity bus going to Shinjuku and departing from Kofu Station...
Hideo Suzuki is a 35-year-old mangaka assistant, whose life seem to be stuck around his exhausting but low-paying job, unfulfilled dreams, strange hallucinations and unsatisfying relationships. He sees himself as a supporting character in his own life, has low self-esteem, resulting in frustration. One day, the world as Hideo knows it is shattered by the presence of a disease that turns people into homicidal maniacs, whose first instinct is to attack and devour the nearest human.
Two historical incidents that deepened the friendship between Japan and Turkey are connected in this Japanese-Turkish blockbuster: The sinking of the Turkish frigate Ertuğrul off the Japanese coast in 1890, and the evacuation of Japanese nationals from Iran in 1985. By making this film about friendship and compassion, the initiators intended to contribute to world peace. Director Mitsutoshi Tanaka's masterpiece was nominated for the Japan Academy Film Prize in ten categories, including Best Film and Best Director, and won the awards for Best Sound Recording and Best Art Direction.
Tsugumi Dozono (Nana Eikura) works at a large electronics company in Tokyo. She likes to spend long vacations at her grandmother’s house in the countryside. One day, her grandmother passes away and Tsugumi Dozono decides to live in her grandmother's house while working from home. She finds a strange middle-aged man in the house. The man's name is Jun Kaieda (Etsushi Toyokawa). Jun Kaieda tells Tsugumi that he is her grandmother’s ex-student and her grandmother gave him a key to the annex house. Tsugumi, who does not know the exact relationship between her grandmother and Jun, begins to live with him.
Masanao Ushio and other detectives from Shinjuku West PD discover the strangled dead body of a woman in an empty building in West Shinjuku in Tokyo. According to her husband Takeshi, the murdered Chieko Akiba was a top salesperson at the insurance company where she worked, but quit her job three months ago and planned to open a beauty salon after buying the building which happens to be the crime scene. The call history on her mobile phone reveals the victim answered a call at 8:16 PM and is presumed to have been murdered immediately afterwards. However, Ushio is surprised to hear who was on the other side of the call: Kyoko Yamano, a woman who accompanied Ushio under an umbrella on a rainy night one year ago and whose husband was killed by someone that very night...
Shu Kubota is killed by someone with a baseball bat. A metal bat and an old toy are found at the crime scene. Detective Yoshito (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) with the special investigation unit goes to the crime scene to investigate. There, Detective Yoshito realizes that he made the old toy about 10 years ago when he worked at the public relations divsion of the Kyoto Prefectural Police Department. Detective Yoshito decides to solve the case by himself and without the help of his partner Detective Chinami (Kaho Minami). --asianwiki
In pre-WWII Vancouver, second-generation Japanese immigrants had it tough. Daily, they faced discrimination, hatred and injustice at the hands of their Caucasian counterparts. But one thing made their lives worth living: baseball. They may be the underdogs, but the Vancouver Asahi baseball team have a sense of fair play and smart tactics that set them apart from the brute force of their opponents. Under the guidance of new team captain Reggie Kasahara, can they be able to rise above all the negativity to win the tournament? This film is based on the true story of Vancouver Asahi, the Japanese-Canadian baseball team that was inducted into The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.
A mysterious code written with letters and numbers is found on a street in Kyoto. Yoshito Takuma (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) and Chinami Anekoji (Kaho Minami) begin to investigate. They discover that something happened at the place where the code was found on stickers and they also discover a dead body. A man known as "Writer" is suspected of being the culprit. To find the man known as "Writer," Yoshito Takuma infiltrates into Shiga central prison. --asianwiki
In this unauthorized adaptation of the novel "The Long Goodbye" by Raymond Chandler set in Tokyo during the 1950s, Tamotsu is suspected of murdering his actress wife Shizuka Harada. He flees to Taiwan and commits suicide. Tamotsu's friend Banji Masuzawa, a private detective, has doubts about Tamotsu's death, but the case is covered up by powerful media mogul Heizo Harada. Banji is then involved in another case involving the neighbors of the Harada family. He encounters drunk novelist Joji Kamiido, a publishing house editor and a beautiful woman Aiko who holds the key to case. As it looks like Banji has solved the case, something unexpected occurs...
Kazunari Katsuki (Gaku Sano) lied to his classmate that Tokyo stinks. Because of his comment, he goes to Tokyo alone. On his way back, he misses his flight back to Kumamoto. Kazunari only 3,400 yen in his pocket. He becomes confused about his missed flight. At that time, Masami Tanaka (Kaoru Sugita), who works at an airport souvenir shop, talks to Kazunari. On Kazunari's unusual trip back to Kumamoto, he meets many different adults and begins to think about his life.
One evening, Princess Sakura (Kyoko Hinami) is attacked by a man. At that time, the Princess could not see his face. and only sees a tattoo on his body. Because of that that night, Princess Sakura falls in love with the man. In order to find the man she gives up everything and gets the same identical tattoo. The princess then works as a prostitute. Meanwhile Gonsuke (Munetaka Aoki) is the man who attacked Princess Sakura. He also stole a scroll and, because of that, he is chased by assassins.
Kusanagi plays a police detective who gets framed for a crime he didn't commit and had to spend the last 10 years in prison. However, he regains his job as a police officer and makes use of his specialized knowledge on criminal psychology to solve difficult cases.
Set in Kyokuhoku Citizen Hospital in Hokkaido, Japan. "Kyokuhoku Rhapsody" follows the life of a young doctor for a one year period. Yoshio Imanaka works at the Kyokuhoku Hospital that is losing staff members and facing bankruptcy. During this difficult time, Yoshio Imanaka meets hairdresser Kozue Namiki and falls in love.
A boys love story about two musicians who are part of an orchestra. Considered as a musical genius, Tonoin Kei (Yusuke Arai) became the new conductor of Fujimi much to the disappointment of Morimura Yuuki (Shota Takasaki) who is the acknowledged leader of the group. Yuuki who was smitten by one of the female musicians is unaware that the new conductor is actually in love with him. As they both struggled with their new roles, one misunderstanding led to another until a serious confrontation ensues involving the two young men.
Drama depicting two men and a woman, each with their own issues, who head for Fukui, and their maturity and rejuvenation through travel. Recently retired Nishina Kosuke goes to meet his first love, who he got to know as a pen pal 42 years ago. For Kagawa Yuika, raised by a single mother, Fukui is a place seeped with memories of her father. And, violinist Kuga Hikari is trying to break through a slump.
In a bid to bring back life to their town after seeing its population dwindle in recent years, the manager of a shopping mall in northern Saitama Prefecture and the executive director of the Honjo Chamber of Commerce start a project to put together an improvised jazz band from local citizens. A former music teacher (Shimizu Shogo) is coerced into becoming the band leader, but the other prospective members are all elderly amateurs with little knowledge of music.
A young man (Yoshio Inoue) moves from the countryside to Tokyo, while experiencing hardships & happiness, in his pursuit to become a manga artist.
A woman from rural Japan marries a struggling cartoonist in Tokyo. Their life is difficult before he finds success, but at least they're together.
Dr Toma, a skilled surgeon, starts work at a regional hospital in Japan. After performing an operation to remove a patient’s liver cancer, something that normally would not be done at this hospital, he quickly gains a very good reputation amongst the town’s people. Some of his colleagues become so jealous they are resentful and waiting patiently for the perfect opportunity to crucify him. Soon they get their chance as Dr Toma considers performing a controversial operation…
A young woman named Izumi (Keiko Kitagawa) suffers the loss of her boyfriend Junichi (Masaki Okada), who died from a fatal motorcycle accident. The shock from her boyfriend's sudden death causes Izumi to lose her memory from the time of the accident. A lawyer named Makiko (Nene Otsuka) then helps Izumi to remember the final moments of her boyfriend's life.
Haru works at a part-time job for a bookstore. Her dream is to become an illustrator and she also loves cats. One day, after a cat named Chibutomu disappears from the bookstore Haru canvasses the neighbourhood in search of Chibutomu.
Riko Narumi plays an unpopular idol who in an attempt to boost her faltering career becomes police chief for a day. During the day a robbery occurs at a convenience store and instead of letting a real police chief deal with the robbery she decides to take the matter into her own hands.
After Noboru saves Hayase from drowning by giving him mouth-to-mouth, Hayase grows confused about his feelings. It doesn't help that around the same time he meets Noboru's twin brother Ryu who has a very different, outgoing personality.
The touching and dramatic tale of the relationship between a Japanese family, their dog and her three puppies, set against the backdrop of a devastating earthquake and the ensuing chaos, rescues and heroism.
Orichalcum is a mystical metal material that gives great powers to the life form that possesses it. Many Eons ago, the Orichalcum was split into three and landed on Earth. The metal then took the form of three relics: Skanda’s Vajra, Jew’s Cross, and the Sword of Alexander. Anyone able to re-unite these three Orichalcum relics would then obtain the powers of a God. Now two rival aliens are in a heated race to reunite the Orichalcum. They land in Edo era Tokyo where the relics are thought to exist.
A young man fights for his freedom after he is accused of groping a girl on train.
A diver on the university team must decide which of her two childhood friends she loves, and they're both on the swim team. High school diver Ami (Masami Nagasawa) and swimmer Keisuke (Mokomichi Hayami) don't exactly get along. Their parents run rival sweets shops and Ami is long-time friends, and maybe more, with Keisuke's freestyle rival Hiroki (Tsuyoshi Abe). Over time, however, hostile words give way to hesitant attraction, leaving Ami torn between Keisuke and Hiroki. With the national championship coming up, the young swimmers are competing for more than the title, but also their hearts.
Twin brothers, Tatsuya (Shota Saito) and Kazuya (Keita Saito), grew up with their next door neighbor Minami (Masami Nagasawa) like siblings. Minami's dream is that her school's baseball team will participate in the national Koshien High School Baseball Tournament. The twin brothers make a pact that they will take Minami to the tournament.
Suzuki’s world is shattered when his teenage daughter is brutally attacked. The assailant, Ishihara, son of a politician, brazenly mocks Suzuki as he throws him cover-up money. Angry, Suzuki finds he has no answer to Ishihara and in venting his anger, loses his daughter’s trust too. A sleep-deprived, crazed Suzuki goes to Ishihara’s school wielding a knife. He does not find Ishihara, but instead forms an alliance with an odd group of school misfits called the Zombies. The group’s elusive leader, Pak Sun Shin, decides to train Suzuki, who quits his job and embarks on a punishing programme to win back freedom for his daughter.
A tale of delinquent and lazy school girls. In their efforts to cut remedial summer math class, they end up poisoning and replacing the schools brass band.
Pharmaceutical student, Keiko witnesses her boyfriend having an affair. Shocked and disappointed, she jumps on a train ("destination anywhere, east or west, she don't care") and ends up in a town named Masao in Tokyo's remote suburbs. There, she gets a part-time job at a newly opened drugstore. What do ya know.. The local shopping district's middle-aged men all fall for the young girl's charms, and they start practicing lacrosse once they have found out that that's her favourite sport.
Hosted by veteran comedian Tamori, "Bizarre Tales 2002 Spring Special" presents five tales. 1. Mushi Game (Ignore the Game) - starring Uchiyama Rina 2. Okashina Machi (Funny Town) - starring Yanagiba Toshiro 3. Tokage no Shippo (Lizard's Tail) - starring Kashiwabara Takashi 4. Yogisha no Otoko (Man's Night Train) - starring Osugi Ren 5. Manhole - starring Kagawa Teruyuki
Shangri-La (Kin’yu hametsu Nippon: Togenkyo no hito-bito) follows the lives of a group of homeless people in Japan who run into a man who nearly commits suicide and decide to help him out of his financial troubles. Using their various ingenious resources they embark on a complex scheme to blackmail a crooked businessman, whose bankruptcy claim has put people out of work. It’s a fun romp as these seemingly homeless people manage to outsmart the very people who cast them from society.
One morning Hikaru Hino, a high school student living in Hakodate, wakes up to find she has grown a tail. She quickly cancels her first date with classmate Hayato, complicating their relationship. Hikaru's sister makes a fake tail to cheer her up and takes her out around town together, but a reporter captures their photo which leads to a huge commotion in Hakodate. As the tale commotion reaches a fever pitch, another person with a tail, Mr. Yoshida, shows up. As a result, the commotion grows into a full-blown incident that involves the whole of Hakodate.
A gas leak explosion at a yakuza hideout provides a shy nurse and a rental car clerk with the opportunity to take a briefcase full of money. A cross-country chase ensues.
Togashi, an enthusiastic marathon runner and his wife are occupied with their daughter Mayumi's grade school entrance examinations, but he becomes jobless when his company folds. To regain his confidence Togashi decides to join the marathon that is taking place on the very day of his daughter's examination and the all important interview.
Masato is a bad boy, but very in love with music. He meets a girl, Miki, who has serious diseases but is optimistic toward life. They start to work together in a CD shop and catch every chance to show their talents. Under the efforts of Masato, his company at last becomes an entertainment giant in Japan.
Takanosuke Ushio and Tae Horikawa are unable to forget each other, even though they met and fell in love 20 years ago. They had promised each other that they would build a retreat in Shiguretei, but Ushio was hospitalized after a stroke a few days later, and when his wife, Takako, rushed to the hospital, she discovered their love affair, which in reality had not gone beyond kissing. Now, 20 years later, against the advice of her ikebana mentor, Tae rushes to meet Ushio at Shiguretei, only to see him clutching his chest in pain. Eventually, the design and plans for the dream retreat are seen by Tae, but she has to visit Kyoto alone... or maybe she's heading for somewhere else.
Late for a meeting, Kotoko was running along the corridor in school and bumped into Naoki, their lips meeting. Naoki showed his disgust, but Kotoko started to idolise him, who was good at everything from studies to sports. When Kotoko's house burned down, her father's good friend Machiko invited them to move in with her family. It was then that Kotoko realised Naoki was the elder son of Machiko, who took up the role of a fairy-godmother to bring the two together...despite the fact that Naoki was disgusted. Not discouraged, the clumsy and not-so-bright Kotoko started to do everything that would change her impression on him. Gradually, the icy-cold Naoki who disliked girls started to feel for Kotoko...
Keiko, a young, newly hired weather woman, is eager to give her channel's flagging ratings a boost. She decides a panty shot might do the trick, so during her forecast she lifts her skirt, thereby capturing the attention and the hearts of viewers. Keiko's stunt creates such a stir of excitement over the weather report that viewers begin religiously turning in to see what she'll do next. However, this showboating routine earns the ire of Kaori, the beautiful and ambitious daughter of JTV's chairman. Jealous of her success and aching to take over the weather report, Kaori is willing to do just about anything to get what she wants.
A bored Japanese accountant sees a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves ballroom dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.
Yohei, a punk rocker, becomes a Buddhist monk in order to inherit a mountain temple. Though initially rebelling against the tough monastic discipline, he learns to adjust. Then his girlfriend shows up, enticing him to return to his rock 'n' roll roots.
Popular mystery series No.37 is coming. The death of the oldest son in the family that everyone is proud of - what happened? Mr. Ushio is approaching the sad truth behind it. At around 10 pm, the body of a stationery maker employee Takahiko IBA was found in Nishi Shinjuku park, Tokyo. Masao Ushio, a detective at Shinjuku Nishijo, is questioning Harumi, the younger sister of the victim who found the body...
